Lexical Specificity Research Articles

Collective memories and social roles: the case of the Paris terrorist attacks of 13 November 2015.

The present study was based on empirical data collected during the first phase (2016) of Study 1000, part of the 13-November Program: a corpus of 934 individual interviews conducted 6-11 months after the events. To process this empirical material, the authors used integrated TXM software, which provides several classic textometry tools. They mainly used the lexical specificity analysis tool, which statistically measures the irregularity of the word distribution according to the parts of the corpus. They also analyzed the concordances of certain very specific lexical forms. Analysis revealed the important influence of social roles on the construction of memories and narratives of this event. Application of textometry tools highlighted lexical fields specific to the different social roles played by the interviewees in this social drama, and showed that it was through these specific vocabularies that they remembered and recounted this extraordinary story. Social roles therefore influence the formation of memories both individual and collective, by modulating the way in which individuals select what to remember and what to forget. The article opens up several interesting avenues for future analyses, mainly a longitudinal perspective (including phases 2 and 3 of Study 1000) for the study of flashbulb memories and the gender issue to fine-tune the analysis of social roles.

How lexical quality predicts L2 reading comprehension in early bilingual education

ABSTRACT This study investigated the impact of second language (L2) lexical quality on L2 reading comprehension in bilingual primary education. The participating children were taught in the L2 English for 30-50% of the time and the remaining time in their L1 Dutch. Seventy-three pupils from four different schools were assessed in the L2 on vocabulary, lexical specificity and phonological awareness in kindergarten, vocabulary, lexical specificity and decoding in grade 1, and reading comprehension in grade 3. L1 reading comprehension was tested in grade 2. Results showed that lexical specificity in kindergarten had a direct effect on L2 reading comprehension in grade 3, and phonological awareness in kindergarten had an indirect effect on L2 reading comprehension via L2 decoding skills in grade 1. These effects remained significant after taking L1 reading comprehension skills in grade 2 into account. The lexical specificity task, measuring specificity of phonological representations, had a more profound impact on reading comprehension than vocabulary. This highlights the importance of examining the specificity of phonological representations when it comes to studying L2 reading comprehension proficiency and implies that teachers should focus on L2 lexical specificity in bilingual kindergarten to build the foundation for L2 reading comprehension in grade 3.

«Мүнйетүл-гүзат» жазба ескерткішіндегі есім сөздердің лексикалық ерекшеліктері

The traditions of comparative study of Turkic languages, creation of dictionaries, and teaching the Kipchak language to representatives of other nationalities constitute one epoch in the land of the Mamluks. Monuments belonging to this era have different purposes and contents. The article analyzes the lexical specificity of the nominal words on the monument "Munyetul-Gyuzat", belonging to the period of the Mamluk Kipchaks. Somaticisms and names of species and colors in the text are compared with modern Kazakh and Turkic languages. Mamluk Kipchaks make up a significant part of the monuments of Kapshak writing in general. During the period of the Mamluk Kipchaks, dictionaries, works, and grammatical works were written to study the language. This heritage is directly related to the Kipchak language. It is important in studying the history of the formation of the Kazakh language, both the oral speech of the Kipchaks in the Middle Ages and literary variants of the language. "Munyetul-Guzat" is a work dedicated to the art of war. This monument has not yet been fully studied in linguistics. As for the history of the Kazakh language, the study of the vocabulary of this text is important for linguistics.

The impact of lexical specificity training on at-risk emergent bilinguals

AbstractEmergent bilinguals (EBs) who are exposed to societal language at school but use another language at home may experience difficulties in mastering the societal language, especially those at risk for language and reading disabilities. Learning phonologically specific new words that discriminate between phonemes may foster phonological awareness and word reading. This study examined the effectiveness of a lexical specificity intervention program that targeted phoneme discrimination in EBs at risk for reading disabilities. EBs who scored below the 25th percentile on the screening measures were selected and randomly assigned to one of two conditions: at-risk intervention or at-risk control. Of the 76 EBs in the at-risk group, 40 were randomly assigned to receive the intervention. A group of 51 typically developing EBs who did not meet the risk criteria were selected as typical controls. The pre- and post-tests include phoneme discrimination, phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, fluency, and decoding. The at-risk intervention group showed improvement on the phoneme discrimination task after the intervention and outperformed the at-risk control group but not the typical control group. In addition, growth was observed during both the training and testing sessions of the intervention. The lexical specificity intervention could be a good resource to enhance a key precursor to literacy development for at-risk EBs.

Problems Encountering MA Students when Translating the Headlines of Newspapers from English into Standard Arabic

News headline writing has it's own lexical, rhetorical, grammatical, and type of written discourse features different from other types of text. Because of their lexical, stylistic, special grammar, and cultural specificity students find them difficult to translate. The objective of this paper is to study the difficulties that encounter M.A. students when translating newspaper headlines from English into Arabic. To achieve the goal of the study a group of 40 M.A. students was selected. The students were enrolled in M.A. programs in three Jordanian Universities. The researchers designed a translation test that contained 30 news headlines to be translated from English into Arabic. The results revealed that the students encountered many difficulties in translating news headlines. These difficulties were attributed to the use of literal translation, inability to choose the correct equivalences, and unawareness of the structure, style, and features of news headlines. Engaging students in training courses as well as expanding their knowledge of the target culture was highly recommended.

What Is Rejection? Lexical, Experimental, and Analytical Specificity Is Needed to Drive Developmental Psychopathology Research Forward

There is increasing urgency in the quest to identify prospective risk factors for nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), driven by a growing teen mental health crisis. NSSI, which involves deliberately harming one’s physical body without suicidal intent, increases rapidly in early to middle adolescence and is a risk factor for suicidality and other mental illness ( 1 Nock M.K. Joiner Jr., T.E. Gordon K.H. Lloyd-Richardson E. Prinstein M.J. Non-suicidal self-injury among adolescents: Diagnostic correlates and relation to suicide attempts. Psychiatry Res. 2006; 144: 65-72 Crossref PubMed Scopus (1014) Google Scholar ). Accumulating research highlights social (e.g., rejection, poor relationships, low support) and affective (e.g., reactivity, lability, dysregulation) risk mechanisms, among others ( 2 Cipriano A. Cella S. Cotrufo P. Nonsuicidal self-injury: A systematic review. Front Psychol. 2017; 8: 1946 Crossref PubMed Scopus (224) Google Scholar ). However, social and affective risk mechanisms can be linked and may interact to confer risk for NSSI as well as mental illness more broadly ( 3 Hsu D.T. Jarcho J.M. Next up for psychiatry: Rejection sensitivity and the social brain. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2021; 46: 239-240 Crossref Scopus (8) Google Scholar ). This is particularly relevant in adolescence, a time of rapid brain development and increases in both mental health struggles and reliance on peer affiliation ( 4 Guyer A.E. Adolescent psychopathology: The role of brain-based diatheses, sensitivities, and susceptibilities. Child Dev Perspect. 2020; 14: 104-109 Crossref PubMed Scopus (19) Google Scholar ). Despite the recognition that social difficulties are a common correlate of mental illness, few studies integrate robust measures of real-world peer experience within a neuroscience framework to prospectively predict the emergence of adolescent mental health struggles. Understanding whether neural diatheses confer increased vulnerability to specific stressful peer experiences in adolescence is a critical open question—interventions designed to target neural diatheses or to promote specific types of peer experiences may be critical for prevention efforts in the future ( 4 Guyer A.E. Adolescent psychopathology: The role of brain-based diatheses, sensitivities, and susceptibilities. Child Dev Perspect. 2020; 14: 104-109 Crossref PubMed Scopus (19) Google Scholar ). SEE CORRESPONDING ARTICLE ON PAGE 40 SEE CORRESPONDING ARTICLE ON PAGE 40 Neural Reactivity to Social Punishment Predicts Future Engagement in Nonsuicidal Self-injury Among Peer-Rejected AdolescentsBiological PsychiatryVol. 94Issue 1PreviewRates of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) increase dramatically in adolescence. Affective reactivity and adverse social experiences have been linked to NSSI, but less is known about whether these factors may separately or interactively predict NSSI, especially longitudinally. This study combined functional magnetic resonance imaging and a sociometric measure to test whether a combination of neural (e.g., amygdala) reactivity to social punishment and peer-nominated peer acceptance/rejection predicts NSSI longitudinally in adolescence. Full-Text PDF

Describing the Spoken Language Skills of Typically Developing Afrikaans-Speaking Children Using Language Sample Analysis: A Pilot Study.

Language sample analysis is widely regarded as the gold standard of language assessment. However, the uncertainty regarding the optimal length of sample and the limited availability of developmental language data for nonmainstream languages such as Afrikaans complicate reliable use of the method. The study aimed to provide guidelines on representative length of sample and concurrently provide a preliminary description of the spoken language skills of Afrikaans-speaking children. The study involved 30 typically developing Afrikaans-speaking children aged between 3;6 and 9;6 (years;months). A descriptive research design was used to transcribe and analyze 1-hr interactions collected in natural environments of participants who were recruited using referral sampling. Video and audio recordings of the samples were transcribed using adapted Sampling Utterances and Grammatical Analysis Revised analysis procedures. Results indicated that mean length of utterance in words per minute, number of different words per minute, and total number of words per minute stabilized at 30 min and no significant differences were found between 30 min and longer time segments. Morphology results concur with existing developmental findings in Afrikaans. Lexical diversity results correlated with the findings of the lexical specificity and accuracy in the Prutting and Kirchner Pragmatic Protocol (Prutting & Kirchner, 1987). The developmental trajectories for pragmatic and phonological development were consistent with existing guidelines. The study concluded that a 30-min interaction segment provides a representative language sample for Afrikaans-speaking children who are between 3;6 and 9;6. It provides promising preliminary developmental data and clinical guidelines, confirming the potential of language sample analysis (LSA) as a reliable component of language assessment in Afrikaans.

Русская диалектная речь в условиях синтеза бесписьменной народно-речевой традиции с элементами письменной речевой культуры (на материале речи диалектоносителей-старообрядцев)

. The peculiarities of a new stage in Russian traditional popular culture, dating from the first half of the 20th century, when many dialect speakers began to read and write, require to study the influence that is exerted on oral dialect communication by written speech. Today, in dialect speech, we need to distinguish the features originated from the oral character of this form of communication from the unwritten character of folk speech culture as a foundation of dialect communication, and from the inclusion of written components in the language consciousness of dialect speakers. The analysed material is the speech of dialect speaking Old Believers from the village Belogornoe in Saratov Oblast; the object of observation is the peculiarities of inclusion of written culture elements into the dialect speech; the main research method is the text-based analysis of dialect speech. Literate dialect speaking Old Believers’ speech is typically dialectal – by its phonetic and grammatical structure, its lexical specificity, its communicative organization, as well as from the point of view of verbalized features distinguishing the dialect speakers’ consciousness. At the same time, the informants’ speech represents a specific synthesis of oral dialect communication features with penetrating elements of bookish and written discourses, mainly religious one. The interaction of the dialect speech basis with other discursive elements can be seen in the lexical composition of dialect speaking Old Believers’ speech, in the manner of coping with the inclusions from other discourses, in the functioning of heterogeneous language units, as well as in the forms of linguistic reflection. While remaining basically dialectal with its non-functional variability as a distinguishing feature of dialectal communication, the speech of literate dialect speakers is characterized by some elements of linguistic means’ functional distribution and by the strengthening of meta-linguistic reflection. The authors conclude that changes in dialect communication, connected with the expansion of literacy among dialect speakers, have a variable character. They are determined by the source of literacy and by the circle of written texts constituting the communicative space of a dialect speaker. The peculiarities of synthesizing written culture with the Old Believers’ dialect speech are a variant of the general dynamics of folk speech tradition.

Обусловленность функционирования лексико-синтаксических особенностей спонтанной и подготовленной речи психолингвистическими механизмами речепорождения (на материале английского языка)

The article reflects the results of studying English oral monologue speech (spontaneous and prepared) conducted from the standpoint of linguistic and psycholinguistic approaches by appealing to the principles of generating a speech statement. Within the content analysis, it has been proved that the identified language markers (repetitions, anadiplosis, various categories of questions, etc.) successfully implement the original intention of the authors of the presented speech acts differing in multifunctionality and the ability to represent the speaker’s individual value system. The aim of the study was to identify the lexical and syntactic specificity of English oral monologue speech. The scientific novelty of this study lies in the analysis of the regulation of deep structures in a sounding monologue that is coordinated by language units with qualitative signs of expressing hesitation and intention. As a result, it has been found that the mechanisms of generating spontaneous and prepared monologue statements are reflected in the functioning of specific simple and complex language units (lexical and syntactic), which, in turn, represent the content of speech generation process considering the speaker’s internal motives.

SEMANTIC AND SYNTAX PARAMETRIZATION OF WEATHER FORECAST HEADINGS

The heading as an element of meteorological discourse, implemented in the genre of weather forecast, reflects the specifics, which is based on several principles of information coverage. It is a combination of features of scientific, journalistic and artistic styles. The purpose of the research is the lexical and syntactic specificity of headings on Facebook. The object of the research is media heading and the subject of the research – its features in semantical and grammatical aspects. In the process of studying the weather forecasts headings following methods were used: descriptive method (to characterize meteolexemes), component analysis (to specify the semantics of the basic elements of the studied units) and quantitative calculations (to determine the frequency of meteolexemes and structures). The source base for the article was the headings of weather forecasts, represented on the Facebook page of the head of the Cherkasy Regional Center for Hydrometeorology V. Postryhan. The actual base is 300 of these units, recorded in the forecasts-reports from August 12, 2019 to January 31, 2022. The semantic specificity of headings is largely determined by the qualitative and quantitative parameters of used lexemes. The system of words to denote time is the most extensive. Within its limits the most frequent lexemes are singled out: names of seasons, months and days. Those that indicate the temperature parameters of the weather, precipitation and phenomena that specify the course of the weather in a certain period of time were quite active among the actual meteolexemes. Less active components in the headings are geortonyms that serve as chronomarkers of weather conditions. Weather forecast titles are formed as different types of syntactic constructions. Simple constructions prevail and reflect the main content. Complex sentences reflect the main idea of the forecast with certain details and are relatively rarely used. The prospects of the research lie within the lexical and stylistic parameterization of weather forecast headings.

Lexical restructuring stimulates phonological awareness among emerging English-French bilingual children's literacy.

This longitudinal study investigated how lexical restructuring can stimulate emerging bilingual children's phonological awareness in their first (L1) and second (L2) languages. Sixty-two English (L1) - French (L2) bilingual children (Mage = 75.7 months, SD = 3.2) were taught new English and French word pairs differing minimally in phonological contrast. The results indicated that increasing lexical specificity in English mediated the relationship between English vocabulary and English phonological awareness both concurrently and longitudinally at the end of Grade 1. A longitudinal relationship was established among French vocabulary, French lexical specificity, and French phonological awareness at the end of Grade 1. Notably, cross-language transfer from English lexical specificity was a better predictor of development in French phonological awareness, especially for words that contained phonological contrasts that occurred in both languages. The results from this study highlight the phonological foundations of early literacy and extend the lexical restructuring hypothesis to emerging bilingual children.

Structure and semantics of derived verbs of behaviour in the Russian language

This article deals with Russian derived verbs of behaviour, formed on the basis of substantive and adjectival stems by means of suffixation. The aim of the analysis is to identify and characterize the structural, lexical and designative specificity of this class of words from the derivational-semantic aspect. The study showed that the four word-formation models that are the most productive and popular in Russian speech are those that include suffixes-nicha(t?), -stvova(t?), -i(t?), and -ova(t?), within which the explication of ?behavioural semantics? takes place. Lexical derivation is accompanied by active metaphorization, as a result of which the verbal lexeme acquires expressive-evaluative connotation (often pejorative) and functional and stylistic marking (?colloquial? or ?bookish?). The article characterizes motivational relations and lexical and word-formation semantics of verbs formed according to a particular model and reveals their designative-evaluative and regulative function. Verbs of behaving and acting reflect stereotypical ideas of native speakers of Russian about desirable, exemplary or undesirable, socially proscribed forms of human interaction with the surrounding world. Their derivational dynamics allows for objectification of basic moral and ethical meanings and deontic norms in the mental and cultural space of the Russian language, which indicates the axiological component of the process of verb designation.

THE PECULARITIES OF THE VERBALIZATION OF THE NOTION SPACE EXPLORATION IN ENGLISH (A STUDY OF THE NOVEL “THE MARTIAN” BY ANDY WEIR)

The article deals with the notion of Space Exploration. Its semantic and structural peculiarities have been analysed. The notion Space Exploration has been studied and foregrounded in fiction, namely in the science-popular novel. Several lexicographic resources have been applied for the comprehensive analysis. The study has been conducted in accordance with existent researches in the field. The terms that represent space sphere have been specified in fiction that cannot be treated as typical context. The etymological transformation of the lexeme has been traced. The evolution of the corresponding notion in Ukrainian has been taken into account. The notion Space Exploration has been admitted to be the nucleus of the lexico-semantic field Space Exploration. The meaning of the lexeme has been worked out in both ways – its practical usage and theoretical definitions. It has been illustrated that Space Exploration can alter its meaning contextually and some semantic alternatives have been introduced. The structure of the lexico-semantic field Space Exploration has been organized. Lexico-semantic groups that constitute the lexico-semantic field under consideration have been outlined. Nuclear lexemes have been defined. Some lexicosemantic groups have been further structured into lexico-semantic subgroups because of their thematic heterogeneity. The complexity of the notion Space Exploration has also contributed to the detailed structural organisation of the field. The peculiarities of lexical units and specificity of their functioning in fiction have been highlighted as well. The frequency of usage has been accentuated. Space Equipment has been acknowledged as the only lexico-semantic subgroup comprising nouns exclusively. It has been emphasized that acronyms are often found in fiction to represent the sphere of space. It has been found out that all lexico-semantic groups and subgroups are interconnected whereas the boundaries are not distinct.

A corpus-based study of analyzing the lexical specificity in the Preface section of Pakistani academic textbooks

A preface is the author’s endeavor to describe the text and indicates why the text has been written. It also underlines some of the author's references and the text's relevant point of concern. Thus, the preface functions as the author's introduction to the book. It is the section of the book in which the authors guide the reader about the text and share their opinions and beliefs on the text's content. Due to the importance of prefaces in textbooks, the present study attempts to explore the linguistic specificity in the preface section of the Pakistani academic soft discipline textbooks at Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC) and Bachelor’s level. As specificity in writing is a crucial concept in using English for academic purposes. In a mix-method study, we have used the quantitative method (statistical percentage) in which the frequency along with percentage is recorded and further qualitatively interpreted with the help of concordance lines via AntConc software. The data of this study is compiled with the assistance of text fixer and file converter software. For the analysis of the corpus, Ken Hyland’s (2009) model of lexical Specificity is adopted. The self-mention and hedges categories of the lexical specificity model have been analyzed for the preface section. The findings showed that there has been frequent use of the first-person pronoun ‘I and we’ to build the authorial stance in the preface section. Further, the hedges like ‘will and would’ used in the preface section of the textbooks manifested the positive attitude of the authors by establishing solidarity for their readership and increasing the communicative tendency of the text. Thus, it is concluded that the preface of soft sciences textbooks would act as the mean with having dual communicative purposes, either to present the book and to publicize it to the potential readers.

The impact of lexical skills and executive functioning on L1 and L2 phonological awareness in bilingual kindergarten

This study investigated the role of lexical skills and executive functioning on L1 Dutch and L2 English phonological awareness in children enrolled in bilingual Dutch/English kindergarten in The Netherlands (n = 95) and monolingual Dutch kindergarten (n = 83). Participants had an average age of 5 years and 10 months and completed tasks on phonological awareness, lexical skills (vocabulary and lexical specificity), and executive functioning (sustained visual and auditory attention, behavioural self-regulation, and verbal short-term memory) in the L1 Dutch and the L2 English. Dutch phonological awareness was predicted by self-regulation and verbal short-term memory. English phonological awareness was directly predicted by Dutch phonological awareness and visual sustained attention. The results highlight the importance of executive functioning such as sustained attention, behavioural self-regulation and short-term memory in first and second language learning in kindergarten, and support cross-language transfer effects from L1 to L2 phonological awareness among bilingual learners.

CHUVASH SUBSTRATE OF CHEBOKSARY REGIONAL DIALECT OF RUSSIAN

The article is devoted to the study of the peculiarities of the Russian colloquial speech of the inhabitants of Cheboksary, the capital city of the Chuvash Republic, Russia. It is believed that it was the Chuvash language that had a considerable influence on the formation of these peculiarities. The purpose of the paper is to highlight the role of the Chuvash substrate in the formation of the regional dialect of Russian in Cheboksary. The traditional linguistic methods are applied to analyze the language material composed of natural discourses of inhabitants of Cheboksary. The culture of speech is in the focus of the research done on the linguistic data provided by both the Russian and the Chuvash scholars. The authors come to the conclusion that the Russian language constantly exposed to the Chuvash linguistic and cultural environment has been experiencing significant local influence and herewith acquiring unique features. Substrate elements are realized at all levels of the language system. In the Cheboksary regional dialect, the Chuvash influence on the Russian language is expressed in an increase in the frequency of Russian language units, which most closely correspond to the Chuvash counterparts. Phonetic markers are the major elements that make the speech of the residents of Cheboksary sound specifically. Orthoepic peculiarities of Cheboksary residents in a number of cases are characterized by their pronouncing certain words literally and shifting stress in some frequently used words. The lexical specificity of the Russian colloquial speech of the inhabitants of Cheboksary is accounted for by a number of Chuvashisms, local urbanonyms and semantic calques of Chuvash words. Morphological markers are the result of the specific use of Russian language units due to the influence of the process of acculturation. The word-building markers of the Cheboksary regional dialect are associated with the use of derivational formants of Chuvash origin in Russian word formation and Russian suffixes in the composition of Chuvash words. The syntactic level markers are represented in sentence models and by their peculiar features. In the Cheboksary regional dialect instead of Russian SVO sentence model Chuvash SOV sentence model is preferred. It is worth mentioning also that participial constructions are characteristic of oral speech. The authors argue that the regional dialect of Russian in Cheboksary is a variant of the Russian literary language. Its objective existence and functioning is the result of its exposure to the influence of the Chuvash language and culture. The peculiarities of the regional dialect of Russian are revealed in codified language units that have experienced the interfering impact of the Chuvash language.

IN ADDITION TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE ON THE DIALECT VOCABULARY CONTAINED IN THE CORPUS OF RUSSIAN DIALECTS OF UDMURTIA

The paper presents the progress and the intermediate results on linguistic-geographical information system “Dialect”. New definitions for the dialect words, showing derivational, semantic, lexical specificity of a dialect speech, are introduced into the system to identify the dialect words and their further presentation in the lexical-geographical and lexicographic modules. The questionnaire of LGIS “Dialect” is based on the Lexical atlas of Russian folk dialects’ program and at the same time complements it. The questionnaire refers to the different topics and parts of speech. The questions are based on authoritative lexicographic sources and examples of words usage in Russian dialects of Udmurtia. The words widely used in the dialect language but not included in Lexical atlas of Russian folk dialects’ program as well as a local vocabulary outside other sources were tagged in LGIS “Dialect”. New data for lexical-geographical and lexicographic description of Russian dialects of Udmurtia were received as the result. The analysis of new tagged words provides a deeper understanding of the lexical vocabulary and the dialect differentiation of Russian dialects of Udmurtia.

SЕMANTIC-SYNTACTICAND LEXICAL SPECIFICITY OF THE VOCATIVE IN THE IDIOLECT OF LESYA UKRAINKA

The article is devoted to elucidating the semantic and syntactic functions of the vocative, which is quite common in the poetic idiolect of Lesya Ukrainka. Its grammatical specificity is substantiated – the predominant use in lyrical poetry with two secondary semantic-syntactic functions: identification and semantic accentuation of the addressee to whom something is reported, and more limited use of the exclamatory with the primary semantic-syntactic function of the addressee – the subject of potential action). The function of the vocative identifier is traced mainly by the names of non-beings, and the function of semantic accentuation of the addressee – mostly by the names of persons who are informed about something but do not motivate them to action, and occasionally – by the names of non-beings. The parameters of the use of personalized names of masculine and feminine objects and nouns of the middle gender and nouns in the plural form in the positions of treatment with these semantic-syntactic functions of the vocative are noted. The well-known address in the form of the middle genus is a word that constitutes the lexical and grammatical specificity of Lesya Ukrainka’s poetic idiolect. Peculiarities of lexical filling of the accusative case are traced, the predominant and organic use of words from the vernacular in its function is stated. The poetess widely used the well-known in folk etiquette indefinite noun with the collective meaning of brothers and more limitedly – the indefinite noun gentlemen. A notable feature of the lexical range of the vocative is the predominant use of such etiquette words as sir, kind sir, noble lord, friend, heaven (as a tender address to a man younger than age), brother (as a friendly address to a man or a loved one, friend), good people and others that are inherent in the communication of ordinary people.

More lexically-specific knowledge and individual differences in adult native speakers' processing of the English passive

This paper presents experimental evidence for the role of lexically specific representations in the processing of English be and get passive constructions. Using a self-paced reading task, processing of full and truncated be and get passives was compared on sentences containing verbs strongly associated with these constructions, as determined by supercluster analysis (see e.g., Myachykov et al. 2012). This study complements these corpus-based studies by providing evidence from an on-line processing task that tests whether native speakers are sensitive to the observed distributions. The results support a usage-based functional account of processing and interpreting English be and get passive constructions. Participants' performance was influenced by frequency and lexical specificity. The study also provides evidence of education-related differences in language attainment – the higher educated participants were significantly better at interpreting be and get full passive constructions than the lower educated participants.

English phonological specificity predicts early French reading difficulty in emerging bilingual children.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the predictive value of a dynamic test of English and French lexical specificity on at-risk reading classification in 13 at-risk and 44 not at-risk emerging English (L1)-French (L2) bilingual Grade 1 children (M = 75.87 months, SD = 3.18) enrolled in an early French immersion program in Canada. Lexical specificity was assessed with a computerized word learning game in which children were taught new English (e.g., "foal" and "sole") and French (e.g., bac "bin" and bague "ring") word pairs contrasted by minimal phonological differences. The results indicated that the dynamic test of lexical specificity in English contributed significantly to the prediction of children's French at-risk reading status at the end of Grade 1 after controlling for French phonological awareness and nonverbal reasoning skills. However, French lexical specificity did not predict children's reading risk classification in French after controlling for French phonological awareness. Thus, it may be feasible to identify at-risk status in emerging bilinguals using dynamic measures in their stronger language.